The Other Me
by Show Expert 1
Summary: While thinking that she wants to change how she is, Orihime finds a mysterious perfume. She thought it was harmless and decided to take it with her. However, when Orihime uses it, it does something to her and things aren't the same for her anymore.
1. Perfume Sample

AN: Just a reminder. I haven't read all of the final arc so my bleach stories are based on the anime ending, not the manga.

Karakura Town was a town that is constantly attack my beings known as hollows, but there are those who choose to stand against them. They are known as soul reapers. However, there have been times where soul reapers have been given the power of hollows. They are known as vizards. Vizards have hollows inside them and they're almost like a side of us that we wouldn't show, but what if we can't help, but letting that side of us loose.

"AAAAWWWWWW!" They sky in Karakura Town was opening up with a black gateway forming and a large hollow was coming out. It was a reptilian-like creature that had purple dreadlocks coming out of its mask and had some feminine features. Before it could go anywhere, a few arrows were shot near it. She looked over and saw four people standing against it: Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper, and his friends

"Nice shooting, Uryu." Ichigo said with sarcasm.

"I like to see you do any better." Uryu said.

"Let's wrap this up. We've got to get to class soon." Chad said.

"I know." Ichigo said as he reached over and his blade unwrapped. 'Ever since my powers returned to me when Kugo and Xcution was beaten, I've never felt more alive.'

"Ichigo, what should I do?" Orihime asked.

"You stay focus on defense and support." Ichigo said. "It shouldn't be too hard to deal with one hollow." Ichigo jumped high into the air. He tried going for the head, but the hollow blocked it with her arm and pushed him out of the way. Uryu and Chad attacked from both sides to give him cover.

"Be careful, Ichigo." Uryu said. "This one is a strong one. I say it's an adjucha."

"I've got this." Ichigo said. While the three of them were fighting, Orihime stood by and waited for her moment. She looked and she saw a clear shot at the hollow's mask.

'I have a clear shot. I can take it out.' Orihime thought, but she Ichigo flying around it and stopped herself. 'I can't. I might hit Ichigo.'

"Chad, give it a strong uppercut!" Ichigo said and he nodded his head.

"El Directo!" Chad unleashed his signature attack and gave the hollow a strong blast that hit her right under the chin. It made her lose her footing and she landed on a building.

"Careful. There could be people in there. You could hurt someone." Uryu said.

"No we won't. I'm ending this!" Ichigo said as he got over the hollow and flew straight down. What he didn't see was that the hollow opened its mouth and inside her tongue was a piece of glass and shaped like a diamond with some purple serum in it and it dropped down into a trashcan. That was the last thing she did before Ichigo drove his zanpakuto right through her head and ended her.

"Way to go, guys." Orihime said, but they all heard the bell go off and all of them knew they were in trouble.

"Damn it! Run for it!" Ichigo said as they all hurried to the school.

….

The School

Ichigo and his friends hurried to their class, but they were still considered late. They were in their final year of high school and it was only a matter of time before they all graduate and go their own ways. It was lunch time and Orihime were eating with her usual group of friends.

"You really did it this time, Orihime." Tatsuki said. "You might seem a bit scattered brain, but at least you're responsible with what you do."

"Tatsuki, leave her alone. I'm sure my darling Orihime had a good reason to be late." Chizuru said.

"Why is that? Why were you late, Orihime?" Michiru said.

"Oh! I….forgot to set my alarm." Orihime said as she thought that was her best excuse, but Tatsuki knew better.

"Did you at least helped out?" Tatsuki whispered to her.

"I tried to, but I was afraid I was going to hit Ichigo or something." Orihime said.

"Oh Orihime!" Tatsuki groaned. She always supported Orihime, but even she has her limits. "Don't you see that, that seems to be your biggest problem?"

"What is?" Orihime asked.

"You don't take any initiative." Tatsuki said. "There are times you let opportunities slip right on by because you're too nervous or you overthink about it. You don't have the guts to just go for it like when it comes to telling a certain someone how you feel." Orihime blushed and looked up at the rooftop because she knew that the orange-hair person Tatsuki was talking about was just up there.

"Orihime, you don't have to worry. I'll save you from the trouble!" Chizuru said as she looked like she was about to pounce on her. Seeing where this was going, Tatsuki just knocked her on the head.

"You're not who I had in mind!" Tatsuki said.

"Tatsuki, is that really how I am?" Orihime said and she saw Orihime seemed upset about it.

"I wasn't saying that to be mean or anything. I'm just saying you need a little courage is all." Tatsuki said. "It might be true, but you're also nice, considerate, and extremely generous. That's the kind of person you are." That might be Orihime, but it didn't seem like it was enough.

…

Orihime

After school, Orihime decided to just head straight home. On her way home, she thought about what Tatsuke told her and the more she thought about it, the more she was starting to think Tatsuki was right.

"Tatsuki might have a point." Orihime said. "Who I really am doesn't seem to be good enough….at least in Ichigo's view. How can I change that?" As Orihime walked by, she saw the sunlight reflect off of something in the alleyway she walked by. "What's that?" She went over to investigate it. The light came from a trashcan and when she looked inside, she saw that it looked like some sort of perfume bottle. Orihime took the bottle out and tried to get a good look at it. "Why would someone throw away this perfume bottle? It looks like it hasn't even been used. She looked around for a label, but didn't see one. "I wonder what kind it is." She thought she see if it was any good. She sprayed some in the air and took a whiff of it. It held a delightful smell like an entire forest of flowers and she loved it. "Wow! Well, if no one will keep it, I guess I'll take it for myself." She placed the bottle in her bag and took it away not really knowing what it was.

…

Ichigo

Ichigo changed into his soul reaper form and hopped from one building to the next. He was keeping his guard up in case any other hollows decide to show up.

"Ichigo! Down here!" Ichigo looked down and saw he was right over Urahara Shop with Kisuke right outside. Ichigo went straight down to talk to him.

"Hey, Kisuke. Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"Actually I should be asking you that." Kisuke said.

"Why?" Ichigo said.

"Earlier today, you faced an adjucha, didn't you?" Kisuke asked.

"Yeah. So what?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, it's a little unusual that one would just appear randomly like that." Kisuke said. "I was wondering if you might have seen anything out of the ordinary."

"No, not at all." Ichigo said and that had Kisuke wondering.

"Well, I could be wrong. Just keep your eyes peeled and let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary." Kisuke said. "Something doesn't quite seem right about this."

…

The Next Day

A brand new day was starting up. Orihime woke up fresh and early in the morning. After taking a shower, she touched herself up a little, but as she looked at herself in the mirror, she thought more about what Tatsuki said. It caused her to think she really wasn't liking herself.

"Huhm. I wish I was someone else." Orihime said. "I don't want opportunities to fly by. I want to be spontaneous, daring, something over the edge." Orihime looked over at the perfume bottle she found. Looking at it made her think. She has no idea what it is, but it seemed to be good thing and she wants to be like that. She wants to try and thought she start with something small, something different, and the perfume was a good way to start. "Baby steps." Orihime took the perfume and sprayed some of it on her, but the second it touched her skin, Orihime's head started to feel light and she couldn't think straight anymore. Her vision was going hazy and she could barely hold herself up. It might have been a baby step, but it might end up being too big of a step.


	2. The New Orihime

School was starting up again and the students were coming. This time, Ichigo and his friends were able to make it on time this time.

"Ichigo!" Keigo screamed as he was about to greet him, but was met with Ichigo's arm against his face.

"How's it going?" Ichigo said as he and his group of friends met up. Ichigo noticed Uryu showing up. "Uryu! You got a minute?"

"What is it?" Uryu asked.

"I want to know what you think about the last hollow attack." Ichigo said. "Kisuke says that an attack like that one isn't all that random."

"You think there's something more to it?" Chad asked.

"Kisuke thinks it's a possibility." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo!" All five of them looked and saw Tatsuki coming their way. "Have you guys seen Orihime? I tried calling her this morning and she didn't answer and I don't see her."

"I'm sure she's around here….." Uryu stopped when he saw something he couldn't believe. "Oh my god!"

"What's the matter?" Mizuiro said.

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Just turn around." Uryu said. All of them looked to the entrance of the school and saw something that was a complete shock to all and made all guys had their hearts skip a beat. A girl came walking into the school with her strutting her stuff and had little regard for the school dress-code. You could tell because she wore black leather go-go boots with a slit in the side of her skirt and just wore a white top with most of the buttons undone to show much cleavage. What it the most surprising was that it was Orihime with a grin on her face and have her eyes half open.

"Oh my god!" All of them repeated Uryu. Orihime looked to some of the guys and all she did was flip her hair or wink in their direction. Tatsuki was the first to snap out of her trance and went over to talk to her.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki said.

"Hey, Tatsuki." Orihime said.

"What are you doing? Do you have any idea of the kind of trouble you could get in looking like that?" Tatsuki said.

"So what? What's a little trouble compared to some fun?" Orihime said.

"What?" Tatsuki said.

"Miss Orihime Inoue!" Tatsuki was worried she was right as their gym teacher, Kagine, coming their way. "Orihime, the way you're dressed is not appropriate for this school. It violates a few dress-codes."

"Aw, are you going to punish me?" Orihime said as she had sparkles in his eyes and making Kagine feel a little uncomfortable. "What's the problem? They're just clothes. I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem since it would be nice to show off those manly muscles." None of the students could believe what she was doing. Orihime slid her hand against his blushing face and brought her lips to his ears. "If you have a problem that badly….just rip them off."

"Wha!" Kagine said as he backed away from her. "Young lady, we'll be talking about this inappropriate behavior with the principle."

"Are we?" Orihime said as she winked at him and he was losing all common sense.

"Um….maybe some other time." Kagine said with his face all red and just walked away from her and not a single student couldn't believe she did that.

"Was she actually flirting?!" Ichigo said.

"And with a teacher!" Chad said. Orihime noticed Ichigo and the others and walked over to them.

"Hi, boys." Orihime said.

"Orihime, are you in there?" Ichigo asked.

"Whether she is or not, she's acting hot." Keigo said as he stepped over and stood next to her. Ichigo and Tatsuki were about to pull him away, but Orihime placed her arm next to Keigo and got up close to him.

"So you think I'm hot, do you?" Orihime said.

"Um…well….I…." Keigo stuttered as he has known Orihime for a long time, but she's never once acted this way to him. Orihime took her other hand and slid it up to Keigo's chest. "I bet your kind of guy looking to have a great time with a girl like me, aren't you?" She slid her index finger against his jaw and off his chin. Keigo swallowed some of his saliva to keep his throat from going dry.

"W-W-Well-l-l-l you've kn-kn-known m-m-me for a l-l-long time." Keigo said.

"You're right, Keigo. That means I might know exactly what you like." Orihime said as she got real close to his face. "Alas, you're not my type." She pulled away and Keigo felt like he just got the rug pulled right out from under him.

"She flirted with him and pulled back? It was like she was taunting him." Mizuiro said.

"Not Orihime at all." Chad said. Orihime looked over and she had her eyes on Ichigo as she walked over to him.

"Keigo might seem like a bore, but you look like you want to have some fun." Orihime said.

"Orihime, are you okay?" Ichigo said.

"Never better." Orihime said as she placed her hand against his face and slid it under his chin as she walked through and the feeling of her touch brought heat to his face. "See you in class, handsome."

"What did you call me?!" Ichigo said as he was starting to freak out. All of them watch Orihime walk by and they all wonder what was going on with her.

"Who is that and what has she done with my friend?!" Tatsuki said as she was freaking out the most.

"Good question." Ichigo said. All of them followed Orihime into the class. She sat on her desk and placed her legs on it and leaned back. People were starting to get worried about her.

"Orihime, if this is about what I said the other day, I think you might be going a little too far to prove me wrong." Tatsuki said.

"Orihime!" Chizuru called out as she entered the room. This time, Orihime actually looked annoyed. "Wow! It's true! You really have change. No way you would come to school looking like that. I actually prefer you the other way, but I love you still!" The biggest surprise was when Orihime stood up and actually knocked Chizuru in the gut.

"Orihime!" Ichigo shouted with complete astonishment. Orihime grabbed Chizuru by the hair and had her look at her in the face.

"Listen here, Red. I'm tired of you constantly bugging me." Orihime said. "I do not swing in your direction and I will never swing in your direction. So why don't you do everyone a favor and stop before some gets hurt…..more." After saying that, Orihime just shoved Chizuru back and caused her to fall on the floor. This wasn't like Orihime at all and it was worrying a few people.

…

After School

When School was finished, Tatsuki decided to walk home with Orihime. She wanted to know what has gotten into her and why she's acting the way she is.

"Orihime, do you think maybe now you want to tell me what's gotten into you?" Tatsuki said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Orihime said.

"How can you have no idea what I'm talking about?" Tatsuki said. "You're being all more revealing, you did things that are inappropriate at school, and you flirted with some guys only to push them aside. One of them being Keigo. You even had the guts to call Ichigo handsome. To top it all off, after all these years, you actually turned down Chizuru. I would be glad for that if it weren't for the fact that you also hurt her in the process. So what is up?"

"Can't a girl have a little fun?" Orihime said.

"You call that fun?" Tatsuki said. "What's your idea of crazy since that is what you're acting like?"

"You really want to know?" Orihime said. "Just wait until I rip those clothes off of Ichigo and you just might see something crazy. Only if you like to get a look." That put Tatsuki over the edge.

"That better not mean what I think it means!" Tatsuki said. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you better watch it. If you cross a line, I'm not going to help you out of it."

"You're such a worrier. Sometimes you need to get a little reckless." Orihime said. "It's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

"You really have changed and I don't like it." Tatsuki said and just walked away from her. She's seen Orihime do some nutty stuff before, but this was too much for her.

"Whatever." Orihime said as she walked back home.

…

Orihime's Apartment

Orihime made it home and fixed herself up some dinner. As she empty out her purse, she took notice of the perfume bottle on her counter where she left it. She still didn't know what it was, but she was starting to like it. Orihime stood in front of a mirror to have a good look at herself.

"Keigo was right. I am hot." Orihime told herself. "Maybe I should give Ichigo a call to see if like to hang out here." Before Orihime got to do anything, something was happening to her. Her head started spinning and she nearly lost her footing. She placed her hand against her head and was slowly starting to feel better. When she looked at herself in the mirror again, she was starting to feel embarrassed and tried to use her clothes to cover herself up. "What did I just do?" When she said that, it sounded like she was herself again.


	3. Can't Help Regrets

School was starting up again, but people could not forget what happened with Orihime the other day. No one has ever seen her like that before. Orihime made it to the school, but she was trying to stay out of sight. She remembered everything that happened before and she wasn't sure if she could face some people.

"Look, there's Orihime."

"She's not being as revealing as before."

"I heard she did a one-eighty on her personality."

"I knew there was something about her. No girl that looks like her is ever so nice or innocent." Orihime was hearing all that talk and felt mortified. Ichigo was passing down the hall and noticed her.

"Orihime!" Ichigo called out and got her attention.

"Ichigo!" Orihime said as he came over to her.

"Hey. Are you all right? You weren't acting like yourself at all yesterday." Ichigo said.

"I know. I know. I feel terrible about what happened the other day." Orihime said. "I don't know what happened and I don't know why I did all that stuff."

"Tatsuki said she said something to you. Something about how you acted." Ichigo said as he thought it might have had something to do with it.

"Yeah. I guess she did." Orihime said. "Ichigo….I really don't want to talk about this." He could see that she was pretty upset about this and that seemed to be enough for him.

"Okay. Just know that I'm here if you really do want to talk about it." Ichigo said and Orihime really appreciated that. "One more thing that I didn't get the chance to tell you. Kisuke thinks there was more to that hollow attack the other day. So if you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know." Orihime understood, but none of them really knew that things were already in motion. Orihime went into her class and waited for some of her friends to show up because she wanted to talk to them as well. She looked to the door and saw Tatsuki came in.

"Tatsuki!" Orihime said as she waved over to her, but Tatsuki was still pretty upset with her. So she just gave Orihime the silent treatment and acted like she wasn't even there. That really hurt Orihime for Tatsuki never did that to her before.

"Oh man. I don't think I've ever seen Tatsuki not talk to Orihime." Mizuiro said.

"What's going on with her? Yesterday, she acted like she was someone else. Now, she's acting like the sweet and innocent Orihime we all know." Keigo said.

"Guys, Orihime seems upset about the whole thing. That's enough for me that she feels guilty." Ichigo said. "Maybe it was just a onetime thing."

"I hope you're right." Chad said. Orihime looked to the door and saw Chizuru arrived as well.

"Chizuru!" Orihime said as she was happy to see her, but the feeling was not neutral. Chizuru turned away from her and Orihime felt even worse. "I've got to go!" Orihime grabbed her bag and just ran out of the class.

"Seems like she's going through some hard times." Chad said.

"I just hope she doesn't go insane or do something crazy." Ichigo said. Orihime ran out of the classroom and went to find some place that it was just her. When she was alone in a hall with no one around, she leaned against a wall She reached inside her bag and pulled out the mysterious perfume. She didn't know why she brought it, but she felt like she needed it.

"I don't know what you did to me, but it's not worth it if I end up hurting people." Orihime said. She raised it over her head and tossed her arm, but there was no smashing sound. She was still holding onto it. Orihime kept trying, but she couldn't bring herself to let go. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I drop it?"

"Orihime?" Orihime look down the hall and saw Uryu was standing there.

"Hi, Uryu." Orihime said.

"Is everything okay?" Uryu asked. Orihime didn't know what to say because she didn't even know what the problem was.

"Yeah." Orihime said, but Uryu could tell that wasn't a sincere answer. He looked at Orihime's hand and saw the perfume.

"What is that you're holding?" Uryu said.

"This?" Orihime said as she held up the bottle. "It's nothing. It's just a new perfume I recently got. I better get back to class before I get in more trouble than I'm already in." She was about to walk by, but Uryu grabbed her by the arm and stopped her for a moment.

"You know you can talk to us, right?" Uryu said. "It's not good for you if you keep everything bottled up inside you."

"I know." Orihime said and kept walking. Orihime might have been claiming everything was alright with her, but Uryu knew better. He looked down at his hand from when he grabbed her.

'Strange.' Uryu thought. Uryu grabbing her by the arm was for him to get a good feel on her spiritual pressure and her spiritual energy. 'There seems to be a small change in her spiritual energy. I just hope Orihime makes the smart decision and come to us.'

…..

Gym Class

Phys Ed was starting up with Kagine blowing his whistle. After what happened with him yesterday, he really needed to get his head on straight.

"Okay! Ladies are on the track. Boys are playing a round of soccer." Kagine said. When he looked over in Orihime's direction, his face got all red. "Everyone except you, Orihime."

"How come?" Orihime said.

"The principal would very much like to talk to you about your inappropriate behavior the other day." Kagine said. Orihime knew this wasn't good at all for her.

…

The Principal's Office

"Miss Inoue, I understand you caused quite some mischief just yesterday." The principal said. "I was very surprised about this."

"I know, sir." Orihime said. "I crossed some lines that I shouldn't have. Especially since I was on school grounds."

"Yes." The principal said. "Unacceptable behavior with a teacher, violating the dress-code, physically assaulting a fellow student. None of this sounds like something you would do. Would you care to explain?"

"I wish I could, but I can't." Orihime said. After all, how can you explain instant behavior changes when you don't understand what's wrong yourself.

"Orihime, I understand that as a young lady and a high schooler, you want to find yourself." The principal said. "However, there are still some rules we must follow and you have violated a few."

"I know and I regret it." Orihime said as she looked down with closed eyes. Her body started to tremble with it appearing she's on the verge of tears. The principal was starting to feel sorry since she's usually a well behave student.

"Okay." The principal said. "This is the first time you got in trouble and you seem to be having personal problems. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but I can't tolerate that kind of behavior again. If I hear word that you acted like that again, I will have no choice, but to expel you and I'm afraid that you won't be graduating with your class. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir." Orihime said.

…

Orihime

Orihime ran into the changing room. When she got there, she was practically crying. She caused so much trouble and she doesn't even know why she did all the things she did.

"Why is this happening to me?" Orihime said. Orihime actually knew the answer to that. She walked over to her gym locker and opened it up. She pulled out her bag and grabbed the perfume. "It's all because of this dumb thing." She knew she had to get rid of it. If just one spray caused so much damage, she doesn't want to know what more of it could do. She walked over to a sink and opened up the top. She wanted to dump it right down, but something was still holding her back. She didn't understand why she can't get rid of it. It's causing trouble, but she feels like she needs it.

"Orihime!"

"Tatsuki?" Orihime questioned as she heard her voice down at the entrance and tried to hide the perfume she had.

"Yeah. You might want to hurry up and get out here." Tatsuki said.

"Tatsuki, listen…." Orihime said as she wanted to apologize for everything, but she already heard Tatsuki leave and didn't get the chance. Orihime looked back down at the perfume in her hand. She wanted to get rid of it, but she couldn't. The feeling of having it was becoming too much for her and she couldn't help, but want more of it. "I'm sorry." She held it up to her and took aim. With one little press, she sprayed herself and the effect was happening. Orihime felt dizzy and couldn't keep herself balance as she was losing her vision. Orihime knew she was going to have regrets, but she can't help it anymore.


	4. Here Then, Gone Now

"Mizuiro, how does the field look?" Ichigo asked as he and a few students were helping out the school by cleaning around.

"I think it's looking good. You can go ahead and put some of the cleaning stuff away." Mizuiro said. Ichigo went over to a shed and put some of the supplies away.

"Hello, good looking." Ichigo looked and saw Orihime come out from the side, but something was different. She was acting just like she did the other day.

"Orihime? Are you okay after meeting with the principal?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh who cares what that old man has to say?" Orihime said. "He's just an old fuddy-duddy that hadn't got lucky in like eighty years."

"Say what? "Fuddy-duddy"? "Got lucky"? Orihime, what are you saying?" Ichigo said. "What's going on with you? You were seemed to have been acting like yourself just a few hours ago."

"What's with everyone? Doesn't anyone not have a problem with a girl having some fun?" Orihime said. She grabbed Ichigo by the arm and pulled him over to have him pinned to the wall.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo said as he was starting to become uncomfortable.

"I know you would like to have a good time." Orihime whispered. "I can give it to you." She reached for the buttons of Ichigo's shirt and was undoing them one by one.

"Orihime, are you nuts?" Ichigo said. "What if someone comes over and sees us?"

"That will just make it all the more….hot." Orihime said in a way to try and lure Ichigo into her clutches. Ichigo was actually a little conflicted. One part was telling him to get the heck out of there. Orihime's your friend and nothing more. However, he was actually starting to let hormones talk for him.

"No." Ichigo said as he stayed strong and pushed her back. "Orihime, this isn't you. I'm out of here." Ichigo got the heck out of there before she could try to stop him. "What the hell is happning?" Ichigo went right into the classroom to gather his stuff and get home before Orihime tries anything again. Tatsuki walked by and noticed something was wrong with him. Uryu did the same.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Tatsuki asked.

"What are you getting so frantic about?" Uryu said.

"It's Orihime! She's acting out again!" Ichigo said.

"Are you serious?" Uryu said.

"She seemed like her normal self just a little while ago." Tatsuki said.

"I know! That's the part that doesn't make any sense." Ichigo said. "One minute, she was acting guilty about everything yesterday. The next minute, she actually tried to use temptation on me."

"What do you mean? What was she trying to tempt you to do?" Uryu said. Ichigo looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"I think she was trying to get me into a 'certain activity' with the chance of people catching us and not even caring." Ichigo said. That caused Tatsuki and Uryu to blush since they knew what he was talking about. He skipped the part about how he was feeling because he doesn't want to feel Tatsuki's wrath.

"I can't believe Orihime would drop to that level." Uryu said.

"Tatsuki, do something." Ichigo said. "I'm actually a little worried to get near her now."

"I don't know. I'm still pretty upset with her." Tatsuki said.

"I get it, but if you're really her friend, you should be helping her. You've been there for her ever since her brother died." Ichigo said. "Something is seriously wrong with Orihime and I'm sure she would like you to be there to help her."

"I guess you're right when you put it like that, but I've never seen her like this. I don't know how to help her." Tatsuki said.

"Um….you guys might want to come look at this." Uryu said. All of them looked out of the hall and saw Orihime talking with some guy.

"So do you like to go catch a movie?" The guy asked.

"You want to go on a date with me?" Orihime asked and the guy was looking pretty confident. "How nice of you to ask…." She said as she slid her hands up his body, giving him a pleasurable feeling, but she grabbed him by the tie and pulled. "….even though I would never go out with an arrogant, thick headed, cocky bastard like you, who probably doesn't even know how to really give a girl what she wants. Frankly, I can't imagine why any girl would date you. It must be out of pity or something." She shoved the guy back and was having him a little disturbed.

"Ouch!" Ichigo said.

"She shot him down hard." Uryu said.

"That isn't like her at all." Tatsuki said. "Usually she would be a little hesitant with her answer and even when the answer is no, she's nice about it."

"This is starting to get out of hand." Ichigo said. Orihime noticed them and walked in their direction. All of them had to be a little on guard for what she might do next.

"You all need to relax." Orihime said. "You all look so tense." Orihime placed her hand against Ichigo's chest and slid it through to his shoulder. "Then again, it does harden the muscles." As she walked by, she gave Ichigo a little slap on the butt.

"Whoa!" Ichigo screamed. He surely wasn't expecting that.

"She still seems interested in Ichigo. At least that hasn't changed." Tatsuki mumbled.

"What has gotten into her?!" Ichigo said as he was starting to freak out.

"I don't know. I feel like I don't even know who she is anymore." Tatsuki said and was just leaving without talking to Orihime like she said she would.

"Uryu, what do you think is going on?" Ichigo said.

"I'm not entirely sure, but this isn't normal at all." Uryu said as he tried to find the missing pieces. "How could Orihime act like herself just a few minutes ago and then completely change her behavior in an instant? No human can really do that."

"There's got to be some reason. Maybe there's something we're just not seeing." Ichigo said.

"Now that you mention it, I did notice something else." Uryu said. "When I spoke to Orihime earlier, she was still her normal self. However, there was some sort of small change in her spiritual energy."

"A change? Do you think it might have anything to do with this?" Ichigo said.

"I'm not entirely sure." Uryu said. "I'll do what I can to figure this out. In the meantime, you better be careful around Orihime and keep your eyes on her. Your eyes better be the ONLY thing on her."

"Hey! What do you think I'm going to do to her?" Ichigo said.

"You look like you're ready to crack and give in to that other form of Orihime." Uryu said. Ichigo wanted to deny that, but after what was going on with him and her by the shed, even he wasn't so sure.

…

Ichigo

It was night and Ichigo was all set for bed, but he couldn't stop thinking about Orihime. He was getting worried about her with the personality changes and he was a little worried about himself. He's afraid that Uryu will be right and he's going to give in to what Orihime is doing.

"Come on." Ichigo said as he sat up on his bed. "Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I'll admit that Orihime is a nice girl and a great friend, but there's no way I can be with her the way she is. I have to try and stay strong." He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't. He was actually thinking on both sides of Orihime. In her real self, she was charming, sweet, and very considerate. In this other form, she was being so tempting and acting like the kind of women men most men dream about. Ichigo might be an extremely powerful soul reaper, but all that strength can't fight off a man's desires. "What the hell is going on with me? Huh. Whatever is going on with Orihime, I hope she gets better soon. I prefer her real and innocent self than where she's something she's not." Ichigo heard his phone go off and saw it was Orihime's number. "Orihime?"

"Hello." Orihime said and she was sounding alluring.

"What's going on? It's almost ten-thirty. Is something wrong?" Ichigo said.

"The only thing that's wrong is that you're in another bed and not here in mine…with me." Orihime said. That was all Ichigo needed to hear to prove Orihime is still not acting like herself.

"Orihime, don't do this. This isn't who you are." Ichigo said.

"I think my buttons are starting to come undone and I feel no bra." Orihime said. Ichigo was starting to think he should just paint his face red instead of permanently becoming that color on its own.

"Orihime, stop this." Ichigo said.

"I can also feel my panties sliding down." Orihime said. "If you leave now, there still might be some clothes on for you to take off yourself."

"I'll see you TOMORROW!" Ichigo said and just ended the call. They better figure this out soon. Ichigo wasn't sure how much he can hold back.


	5. Want More

Orihime woke up and felt something like a hangover. She sat up from her bed, but she felt some sort of draft. She looked and saw she was only in a silk buttoned top and nearly lost her underwear with them hanging loosely on her legs.

"Oh my!" Orihime said as she grabbed her blanket to keep her covered, despite no one else being there, and tried fixing herself up. Orihime thought back to what happened to her after she sprayed herself with that perfume again. When she remembered some of the things she did with a certain someone. "Ichigo!"

…

Ichigo

Ichigowas on his way to school. However, he barely got any sleep after the night call he got from Orihime. Ichigo was getting really worried about her and was hoping that the next time he sees her, she'll be herself.

"Ichigo!" Keigo was coming at him from behind, but Ichigo wasn't sleep deprived enough for him to lean to the side and stick his leg out for Keigo to trip on and slide against the ground.

"Keigo, I'm not in the mood for any of your tricks." Ichigo said and just kept walking. Dealing with Keigo and others was the last thing Ichigo needed right now.

….

Orihime

Orihime couldn't take it anymore as she took the perfume and shoved it into a drawer and slammed it shut. This all started when Orihime found that stupid perfume bottle. She wants nothing more than to hide it away if she can't throw it away.

"That perfume….what is it doing to me?" Orihime said as she was trembling. She look down at her hands and they wouldn't stop shaking as she was really scared of what was happening to her. It was more than just fear that shook her body. It's the fact that she wants more of it, but she's fighting the urge to use it.

…

Karakura High School

Ichigo was keeping his guard up this time. He didn't know what to expect out of Orihime anymore. However, Orihime didn't show up today. This counts as another crazy stunt she's pulled. Unless there was a hollow attack, she would never cut class.

"Where's Orihime?" Ichigo said.

"Don't know. Maybe she got sick." Chad said.

"I don't know about that." Ichigo said. "I think she once told me she never caught colds even when she was a kid."

"She certainly has been acting sick….in the head." Keigo said and was met with a fist by Ichigo.

"Don't talk about her like that." Ichigo said. "While I do admit that there seems to be something wrong with her, she's still Orihime."

"Maybe she's too embarrassed." Mizuiro said. "She's been doing some crazy stuff these past couple days. She probably can't even bring herself to show her face." This is getting ridiculous. She acts like someone else, she acts like herself, she acts like she wants some trouble, and now she doesn't even show up for school.

"Orihime sounds like she really needs some help." Chad said.

"Yeah. No kidding." Ichigo said.

…..

Ichigo

As soon as school ended, Ichigo entered his soul reaper form and was moving around the city. He tried clearing his head and he needed to see Orihime fast.

"AAARRRGGGH!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Ichigo complained. He looked down and saw another hollow attacking a soul. Ichigo flew down and ended it in an instant with just a single swing of his sword. "Are you hurt?"

"No. Thank you for helping me." The soul said. With the soul safe, Ichigo sent him to the Soul Society.

"That seemed to be a job well done." Ichigo turned around and was met with Yoruichi in her cat form sitting on a wall.

"Yoruichi? What are you doing here?" Ichigo said.

"Scouting the area." Yoruichi said. "Kisuke is still convinced that there might be something more in the hollow attack a few days ago. So far nothing."

"Maybe he was just being paranoid or something." Ichigo said.

"What about you? Have you noticed anything strange going on?" Yoruichi asked.

"Not really." Ichigo said, but rethought about it. "Except there is one thing, but it can't be connected with that hollow attack."

"What do you mean?" Yoruichi asked.

"It's Orihime. She isn't acting like herself at all." Ichigo said.

"How so?" Yoruichi said.

"It's like she's acting like a completely different person." Ichigo said. "She's being more revealing about her body and being a little rude. She's acting more like a flirt. It also seems like she's taunting some guys. She shot a couple down hard. It's like she's about to give them just what they wanted and then pulls away saying they can't."

"Hmm…that really doesn't sound like her at all." Yoruichi said.

"What's weirder is that she has acted like her normal self, but changes back to that other girl." Ichigo said. "No one seems to know why she's doing this."

"When did she started acting like this?" Yoruichi said and Ichigo tried to think about it.

"Just a couple days ago." Ichigo said and Yoruichi had a strange thought.

"Not long after the adjucha attack." Yoruichi said.

"Hang on. You really don't think it has something to do with that, do you?" Ichigo said.

"Are you telling me you don't think it's a little too coincidental these two are too close together?" Yoruichi said.

"It can't be how? How could that even work?" Ichigo said.

"All I'm saying is that it is a possibility." Yoruichi said. "It's just a matter of figuring out how the two connect to each other."

"But there's no way that hollow could have anything to do with it. Orihime didn't even get near it." Ichigo said.

"You might be right, but you shouldn't dismiss the ideas, even if they are ridiculous. You just might be on to something." Yoruichi said. "I think you should just try talking to her. You might find the answers." Yoruichi took off after that and left Ichigo wondering what he's going to do.

…

Orihime

"I need it. I want it. No!" Orihime said as she had her hand on the handle of the drawer with the perfume in it. Her shaking was causing the drawer to beat against the sides as she was still fighting the urge to pull it out. "I don't need it, but I feel like I have to use it." Orihime pulled her hand away, but there was still something pulling her back. Orihime heard her phone go off. "Hello?" She said as she answered.

"Orihime, its Ichigo."

"Ichigo!" Orihime said. "Oh. I-I-I'm sorry I didn't make it to day."

"Orihime, are you okay? You sound like you're having a panic attack." Ichigo said.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Orihime said as she was trying her best to keep calm. "What's going on?"

"I was wondering if you would like to come over to my place for dinner." Ichigo said and Orihime's brain feels like it was shutting down. "My sisters and my dad are out of the town for the weekend and it will just be the two of us. I feel like there are things we need to talk about." Orihime felt like she was dreaming. Ichigo actually asked her over to her place, just the two of them, and for dinner tonight. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I think that might be a good idea." Orihime said.

"Great. I'll see you then." Ichigo said and ended the call. Orihime's heart was going a mile a minute now.

"Did Ichigo just ask me on a date?" Orihime asked herself. She wondered what finally made him decide to do something like that, but there was only one thing she could think of. She looked back over to the drawer with the perfume in it. The only reason she can think of that Ichigo would do something like that after all this time is that very perfume. Orihime didn't care at this point anymore. She pulled open the drawer and grabbed the perfume. She knows what she's doing is insane, but this is a chance she's been waiting for and she wants more as she changed her clothes and placed the perfume in her purse.

…

Ichigo

Ichigo wasn't much of a cook, but he was trying to do his best. Yuzu made some curry before she left and he decided to heat it up to serve for dinner.

"Okay. Be prepared for anything, Ichigo." He said to himself so he won't end up doing something he'll regret. "Orihime might come over and everything will be normal with her or she might actually try to seduce me again." Meanwhile, Orihime wasn't that far away from his home. With sun going down, it almost seemed like perfect timing to have a nice dinner with Ichigo. She stopped when she saw his home just a few feet away.

"Okay. Here we go." Orihime said as she felt her heart pound against her like a hammer. She reached inside her purse and pulled out the perfume. She knew she shouldn't do this, but this is what she wanted and, added to the fact that this stuff seems to be stopping her from thinking clearly, she is going to get it. All it took was just one spray.


	6. Broken Senses

Ichigo took out the curry after it finished heating up and was expecting Orihime to show up at any moment. He heard the door be knocked on and he knew that had to be Orihime.

"Here we go." Ichigo said as he walked over to the door and braced himself as he opened the door.

"Hello." Orihime said as she leaned against the door frame and Ichigo could tell with that she was acting crazy again with her eyes being half opened and smile. She also had some buttons on her blouse undone.

"Hey, Orihime. I'm glad you could make it." Ichigo said.

"I'm glad to be here." Orihime said as she let herself in and undid her shoes.

"Sorry. I'm not much of a cook." Ichigo said. "All that I had to serve is some left over curry Yuzu made before she left. I had to reheat it so it might not be as good."

"That's fine." Orihime said as she grabbed him by the chin. "The curry isn't the only hot stuff here."

"Right." Ichigo said as he was getting nervous. He moved away from her and went into the kitchen. Ichigo grabbed some dishes and placed some servings. "Where do you want eat? We can eat in the dining room or on the couch if you like."

"I think the couch sounds nice." Orihime said. "It certainly has great lighting." Ichigo looked up and saw Orihime standing in front of the window and Ichigo thought she looked amazing standing in front of the light of the setting sun. Ichigo shook his head and was doing his best to keep his senses straight.

"Fine." Ichigo said as he grabbed the two dishes and brought them over as the two had a seat on the couch. "You want a snack or a drink to go with it."

"I don't know. I think I see a nice tall drink of water I like to have." Orihime said as she had her eyes on him when he said that and Ichigo didn't like how she put that.

"Orihime, remember that we just came here to talk and that's all." Ichigo said. They didn't get to do much talking as the sun already went down and the moon and the stars were out. They just sat there in silence since Ichigo didn't know what to say. He was actually nervous to talk to her.

"The curry was delicious." Orihime said as they both finished up. "So is that it? We didn't do that much talking or is there something else you like to try." She said as she moved closer to him. She hoped for a light switch, but she didn't want to move. That was just what Ichigo needed to get him started.

"Orihime, stop this. This isn't you. I don't know why you're doing this." Ichigo said. "You're usually considerate, not pushy, and you don't advance on guys the way you have been."

"So I changed. How can that be so bad?" Orihime said.

"It's bad because you're causing some trouble for some people." Ichigo said. "I'm just worried you're going to do something and ends with someone or yourself getting hurt."

"Come on. Sometimes you need a little pain, but it usually ends up being worth it." Orihime said as she moved her face closer to Ichigo's. Ichigo looked into Orihime's eyes and he could still see some of the real her in there and acted like he was in a trance.

"Wow! You have some sparkle in your eyes. I never noticed that before." Ichigo said.

"Would you like to see a lot more than my eyes?" Orihime said. Ichigo was doing his best to focus, but she was making it difficult.

"Orihime, cut it out. We're friends." Ichigo said.

"No one said we can't be something more." Orihime said as she placed her hand on his leg and walked her fingers further in. "It's hard to believe any girl wants to be just friends with you. You're so muscular, hot, and a powerful soul reaper." She slid her hand right between Ichigo's legs, but the feeling snapped him back to reality and he got up from the couch.

"I'm going to wash the dishes." Ichigo said. He grabbed the dishes and moved right out of there. Ichigo went right into the kitchen and started washing the dishes in a frantic manner. Ichigo kept trying to stay focus and try to talk to Orihime, but she was making it so hard. Orihime got up and walked right into the kitchen.

"Ichigo, why do you do this to yourself?" Orihime said.

"Do what?" Ichigo said.

"You want something, but you stop yourself from getting it." Orihime said. She got right behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "For once just take what you want."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Ichigo said.

"I think I do. Let me help you." Orihime said as she slid her hands down and undid his belt and slid her hand right under his pants.

"Orihime, stop it. We can't do this." Ichigo said as he felt her hand move around down there.

"There's something that saying otherwise." Orihime said. Ichigo knew he needed to stop this, but he felt like he couldn't move. "This is what we both want." She whispered in his ear. "Just give in and let it happen." She slowly pressed her lips against his cheek, but Ichigo used his willpower and broke free from her. He knows that if Orihime actually kisses him, he can't hold out anymore.

"No." Ichigo said as he backed away, but Orihime drew closer to him. Ichigo found himself backed to the wall with Orihime right against him with her sliding her hand down his body. "Orihime, we're friends. This isn't right. We can't do this. Especially when you aren't acting like yourself at all."

"So what?" Orihime said. "If this isn't what you wanted, why did you ask me to come by myself while there's no one else in your home? Why not just get the others and have an intervention?" Ichigo didn't even think about that. He should have known being alone with Orihime could have been dangerous, but something was telling him to do this alone.

"I….I…." Ichigo didn't really know what to say.

"So what's holding you back?" Orihime whispered. "This is what we both want. Just let it happen. You know you can and you know that you want to." Ichigo was starting to cave. He can't hold out with Orihime getting in his head like that. He might be a powerful soul reaper, but he is still just a guy. Orihime was real close to him and was on the verge of kissing him. "On second thought, you're right." She said as she backed away. "This might not be the best idea."

"Hew." Ichigo breathed out. He was just seconds away from breaking down, but now he got a glimpse of the real Orihime in there. He relaxed and dropped his guard.

"Just kidding." Orihime said and kissed him when he wasn't expecting it. That did it. Ichigo's senses were smashed to bits. Ichigo pulled away and tried to get away from Orihime for he didn't know what to do or what to think anymore. He went up to his room to try and compose himself.

"Oh man!" Ichigo said as he was starting to panic and tried to think, but he didn't get that much time. Orihime came right in and pushed him on his bed. She got right on him and kissed him with such passion. Ichigo couldn't even resist anymore. It didn't help either as Orihime slipped her tongue through his teeth. Orihime sat up on him and undid her blouse and threw it off with her bra. Ichigo turned his head, but Orihime grabbed it to have him look at her.

"Don't look away. No need to be shy." Orihime said. She grabbed his shirt and pulled it off him as she went down and kissed him like last time again. Orihime slid her hand along his arm until she reached his hand and grabbed it with their fingers intertwining. She used her other hand and slid it down between them until she reached his pants. She pulled them down and moved away from his face to do it. As she went down, Orihime kissed his chest and was able to get his pants and underwear down and off his legs. Orihime got up and slid her skirt and panties off and placed over him.

"Orihime…." Ichigo started, but really didn't know what to say.

"It's time." Orihime said and sat right down on 'it'. Orihime did most of the work as she moved herself up and down. Ichigo figured he would deal with this at some point in his life, but he never imagined it to be so pleasurable. Orihime grabbed Ichigo's arm and moved it to place his hand on her breast. "That's it. Let this happen." Orihime leaned back as she kept herself balance with one arm and kept her other hand over Ichigo's. Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. He sat right up and grabbed her and made out with her and thrusted against her. Ichigo really tried to resist, but he couldn't. Ichigo turned them over and had them lay against the bed with him on top. Orihime wrapped her legs around his waist as Ichigo slid his hands to her breast and massaged them. Neither of them said anything for they didn't want to stop as both of them released. Ichigo tried and failed to reach the real Orihime. Even he gives in to the urges humans feel.


	7. Perfume Fever

Orihime was starting to wake up and was feeling real groggy. However, Orihime felt something like an arm around her. Orihime fully opened her eyes and noticed she wasn't in her room. She knew exactly where she was and she also notice their clothes scattered around. Orihime didn't even need to look back as she started to remember and knew who was behind.

"Oh my gosh!" Orihime whispered. Orihime carefully lifted Ichigo's arm off her and was careful not to wake him up. She grabbed her undergarments and placed them on. She grabbed her clothes and hurried out of Ichigo's room. She quickly changed in another room. When she got her clothes on, Orihime hurried down the stairs. She was too embarrassed to face Ichigo. When she made it down and saw her purse on the table that held the perfume. All of this is because of that. She grabbed her bag and got out of there. Ichigo woke up about an hour later.

"Oh man. What did I do?" Ichigo said as he still felt tired. That was when all of last night came back to him and he ended up slapping himself in the head. "Orihime…." He was about to talk to her, but he noticed she wasn't around anymore. He really messed up this time, but he thought Orihime would have stayed to talk about it. "That's it!" Ichigo was fed up with how she's been acting and needed to know what's going on. He gathered his stuff and ran right out of his house to find Orihime.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo looked down the street and saw Rukia and Renji arrived.

"Rukia? Renji? What are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"We had a couple days off and got passes to come to the World of the Living." Renji said.

"Is everything okay? You look like you're in a hurry." Rukia said.

"Well…..not exactly." Ichigo said. "Something's going on with Orihime. I need to find her and figure out what's wrong with her."

"What are you talking about?" Rukia said as she was starting to sound a little concerned.

"Just come with me. I'll explain on the way." Ichigo said as he leads the way to Orihime's apartment.

…

Orihime

Orihime was able to make it back to her apartment, but she felt and look like she was losing her mind. She placed the perfume in the kitchen and tried to get as far as she could in the apartment. She didn't know what to do anymore and she doesn't even know if Ichigo will ever talk to her again.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Orihime told herself and was panting like crazy. She heard a knock on the door and it actually scared her.

"Orihime, its Ichigo. It's okay. I have Renji and Rukia with me." Ichigo said.

"The door is unlocked." Orihime said and they let themselves in. When all three of them came in, all of them got really concerned about her from how she looked.

"Orihime, what's wrong?" Rukia said as she went over to her side and comfort her.

"Rukia! I'm so glad you're here." Orihime said as she hugged her friend tight like she was terrified.

"What about me?" Renji said.

"Orihime, Ichigo told us what's been going on." Rukia said. Another thing Orihime is afraid of now. "It's going to be okay. You just need to tell us what the problem is."

"She's right." Ichigo said. "You've got to let us help you, Orihime. Just tell us what's been going on with you."

"I can't." Orihime said. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that I don't know what's going on. I can't explain it."

"Just try." Renji said.

"Okay!" Orihime said as she stood right up. "You really want to know what's been going on. It's all because of that!" She pointed to the perfume bottle. Renji went over to it and held it up.

"This stuff?" Renji questioned as none of them were getting it.

"Yeah." Orihime said as she marched right over and snatched it from his hand. "This stuff is what's doing this to me and if you don't believe me, I'll show you." Orihime felt the need to use it again anyway. She sprayed herself again and the effects kicked in. When they saw her getting all dizzy, they readied themselves to catch her.

"Orihime?" Ichigo said. Orihime regained her balance and looked his way.

"Well, it looks like you're back for seconds." Orihime said and she was sounding like her opposite again.

"What does she mean by that?" Rukia asked Ichigo, but he thought it was best to keep what happened last night his little secret.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing!" Ichigo said.

"I see someone is still acting shy." Orihime said as she walked over to him, but Ichigo grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her back.

"Cut it out." Ichigo said.

"Very funny." Renji said as he was finding this amusing. "That's a nice little act, Orihime, but I'm not buying it."

"Yeah. There's no way that perfume bottle alone is what's causing you to change from your sweet and innocent self to this girl that likes to cause some trouble." Ichigo said.

"Is that so? Would that other me suggest this?" Orihime said and whispered in Ichigo's ear. What she whispered was…..well let's just say that his face was turning red and his legs practically turned to jelly.

"Okay. Yeah that perfume is doing this to her." Ichigo said.

"You know, I'm also sensing her spiritual energy and it seems to have change some." Rukia said.

"You know, Uryu said the same thing just a couple days ago." Ichigo said. Rukia went over to the perfume and looked at it.

"I wonder what this stuff is exactly." Rukia said.

"I think we better take it to Kisuke and have him take a look at it." Ichigo said.

"Good idea. Better get the others too." Rukia said as all of them were on their way out.

"What did she offer?" Renji said.

"You don't want to know." Ichigo said.

…

Urahara Shop

Ichigo gave Uryu and Chad a call and told them what they found out with Orihime's strange behavior. They all met up at Urahara Shop and explained it all to Kisuke. He used a machine that is analyzing the perfume and printing out paper that Yoruichi and Kisuke are looking over.

"So let me see if I have this right. Everything that Orihime has been doing is all because of that perfume?" Uryu said.

"Yeah. It seems to be altering her personality." Ichigo said.

"Blah, blah, blah." Orihime said as she tried to snuggle up to Ichigo. "This is boring. Come on, hot stuff. Let's go have some fun. We could find a private room and go for rou…." Ichigo covered her mouth to keep her from saying anymore as he pushed her off.

"Just sit there and don't move." Ichigo said as he took his hand away.

"Get handsy already, are we?" Orihime flirted and Ichigo was getting annoyed.

"Kisuke, please tell me you figured this out already." Ichigo said.

"Actually yes." Kisuke said. "She was telling the truth. This perfume is altering Orihime's personality into what we have now. According to these readings, however, it looks like the effects are only temporary with each use."

"So how long before Orihime goes back to normal?" Renji said.

"I say about twelve hours." Kisuke said.

"So once Orihime changes back, we just have to keep her away from that stuff." Chad said.

"I'm afraid things are never that simple." Yoruichi said. "This stuff is addictive like alcohol or cigarettes."

"That must be why she hasn't gotten rid of it when she used it before." Uryu said.

"There's got to be some way for us to help her." Ichigo said. "Why can't we just get rid of it ourselves?"

"You better not! I need that!" Orihime said.

"I suppose we could try, but are you willing to fight Orihime for it?" Kisuke said and that had Ichigo back down.

"Maybe we can create something that could counter the effects and we better do it fast." Yoruichi said.

"What do you mean? Is there some other problem?" Rukia said. Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other for they didn't know how to tell them this next part.

"What? What aren't you telling us?" Ichigo said.

"I'm afraid we have more bad news." Kisuke said. "We're detecting traces of reishi in this perfume. The kind of reishi you find with hollows or in Hueco Mundo." Hearing that made everyone a little nervous.

"What? "Hollows and Hueco Mundo" How?" Ichigo said.

"I say this was from that hollow we faced a few days ago." Uryu said. "This whole thing must be what you were concerned about, Kisuke. So what's going on with the reishi?"

"It's infecting Orihime's body." Kisuke said. "The more times Orihime uses it, the greater her chances are that she'll become a hollow."


	8. Infected Scent

Things just got from bad to worse. Ichigo and the others finally figured out what was happening with Orihime from learning about the perfume, but just as they thought they had it all figured out, a darker secret is found in it. The perfume was holding reishi that's found in Hueco Mundo and its infecting her body. If Orihime uses it enough times, she'll turn into a hollow. At the moment, Ichigo was on his phone standing in the entrance of Urahara Shop.

"That's the whole story." Ichigo said as Rukia came up behind him.

"Who are you talking to?" Rukia said.

"Tatsuki. She's Orihime's best friend and deserves to know what's going on with her." Ichigo said.

"I suppose you're right since she does know about hollows and soul reapers." Rukia said and Ichigo turned his attention back to the phone.

"Tatsuki, you doing okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for telling me this." Tatsuki said. "I'm coming right over to talk to her."

"No. Right now, she doesn't seem to be in the best state of mind. Just leave everything to me." Ichigo said. "I promise that I'll get Orihime back to the way she was. You just need to give me a chance." Tatsuki wanted to be there for Orihime, but she figured Ichigo wouldn't want her to see Orihime the way she is now knowing she might be under the effects of the perfume. Especially if the worse would to come.

"Okay. I'll give you one chance, but you better get her back or I'm coming for you." Tatsuki warned. She doesn't care what Ichigo is. She'll hunt him down if she has to if he fails to help her. "Remember that. I don't care what power you have. I will find some way to make you pay. After that, I'll deal with Orihime even if she turns into a monster."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ichigo said as he ended the call.

"Do you really think we can help her?" Rukia said.

"I know we can." Ichigo said. "It would be so easy if we can just smash that bottle to bits."

"We can't. It's highly addictive and could cause come mental damage to Orihime." Rukia said.

"Right. In the meantime, Rukia, you and Renji need to keep this a secret form the Soul Society." Ichigo said. "If they hear about this, they won't hesitate to kill Orihime."

"I know. The fact is that Orihime's powers combined with that of the instincts of a hollow could be disastrous." Rukia said. "However, I don't want to lose her any more than you do."

"Ooh. Sounds like trouble and that means it could be fun." Both of them turned around to see Orihime standing there and she was still under the effects of the perfume.

"Orihime, please try to act sane." Rukia said.

"What are you talking about?" Orihime said.

"Orihime, this isn't you." Ichigo said. "You're sounding crazy, acting crazy, and you don't seem to understand how serious this is. You'll become a hollow if you keep using that stuff and if the Soul Society finds out about this, they'll kill you."

"Sounds like it could be a lot of fun. They just better watch where they put their hands or else they'll be the ones in some trouble." Orihime said.

"It's no use trying to reason with her." Rukia said. "Until the effects of that perfume wear off, she's just going to do whatever she pleases regardless of others."

"You can say that again." Orihime said, but then she felt two strong arms wrap around her and her feet lifted off the ground. They looked back and saw the others with Chad holding her. "Hey! You could at least buy me flowers first."

"Chad, what are you doing?" Ichigo said.

"It's for her own good." Chad said.

"That perfume is not good for Orihime no matter how she acts." Renji said.

"So we're going to need to keep her restricted until Mr. Urahara comes up with a way to neutralize the effects." Uryu said. "We need to keep Orihime away from it until then."

"You're right. It's for her own good." Rukia said. "Let me help out. I can use bakudo. She won't be able to move at all if I use the right level."

"You want me to keep me away from the perfume?" Orihime said.

"Orihime, it's for your own good." Ichigo said.

"I don't think so!" Orihime said as she went from playful and mischievous to opposing and serious. She actually used her powers without saying the word. She had Chad pushed off her by using her shield.

"Orihime, stop." Ichigo said, but she scared them all off with her powers. Orihime ran back inside and got a hold of the perfume. All of them went after her, but tried to be careful so she doesn't do anything. "Orihime, don't do this. Stop and really think about what you're doing."

"Orihime, we're only doing this because we're concerned and we want to help you." Uryu said.

"Please put that down." Rukia said.

"Not a chance. I need this stuff." Orihime said.

"No you don't." Ichigo said.

"I don't? I beg to differ, Ichigo." Orihime said. "You never once looked my way. I always tried to be by your side, but this has helped me. I got closer to you than I ever had before."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"How can you be so oblivious?" Uryu said. "You never noticed before how much you meant to Orihime. You mean the world to her."

"I do?" Ichigo questioned. He never noticed before and now he feels like he's partly to blame for all of this.

"Orihime, Ichigo was just being an idiot." Rukia said. "You don't need that dumb perfume to become a better person when you're already amazing."

"She's right." Ichigo said. "You don't need that, Orihime. If I had a choice between this you and the other you, I go with the other you. That's the real you."

"You would?" Orihime questioned. Ichigo nodded his head and he thought that he was able to get through to the real Orihime. He was wrong. "I can't take that chance. I'm not losing this." Orihime undid the top and poured it onto herself.

"Orihime, no!" Ichigo shouted as it all came down on her. Orihime felt her body changing as it twitched everywhere and she could feel her mind going blank. Orihime also felt pain through her body as she held herself and dropped to her knees like an infection spreading through her entire system.

"Orihime, you've got to fight this!" Uryu said. Orihime couldn't even hear them anymore as her body was growing, turning green, and her clothes were ripping. She was even given a foul stench

"Orihime!" Ichigo shouted. Orihime looked up and she looked like some sort of lizard creature. She burst through the wall and went out into the town. "Orihime, come back!"

"What happened?" Yoruichi asked as she came in. She looked down and saw the perfume bottle on the floor and was able to figure it out.

"We've got to go after her. We've got to help her." Ichigo said.

"You're right. No telling what she could do." Rukia said.

"Wait just a minute." Kisuke said as he came in and held out a vaccination. "This is the antidote. It just might revert Orihime back to her normal self."

"It "might"? It will." Ichigo said as he didn't want to lose Orihime, but Kisuke had other thoughts and Ichigo needed to know.

"Ichigo, listen. Make no mistake because we're in a serious issue now. We're only going to have one shot at this." Kisuke said. "If we don't change Orihime back before she completely transforms into a hollow, we'll lose her forever." The chance of losing a friend forever would be too big of a risk, but whether Ichigo fails or doesn't try doesn't matter because she's doomed either way. Ichigo took the vaccination from Kisuke's hands.

"It won't come to that. I'm going to make sure of that." Ichigo said.

…

The Seireitei

"The Department of Research and Development have detected a strange spiritual energy emerging in Karakura Town." Yamamoto said. He was speaking to Byakuya and it seemed they were already alerted about Orihime. "It seems to be growing and it appears to be unstable. Lieutenants Abarai and Kuchiki are there as well. With Renji Abarai being your lieutenant and Rukia Kuchiki being your younger sister, they are both your responsibility. That is why I want you to go and investigate this matter since they have not reported about this."

"I understand." Byakuya said.

"Make no mistake, Captain Kuchiki. If you find that the source of this unknown spiritual energy is a threat, it must be terminated." Yamamoto said.

"It shall be done." Byakuya said. With Byakuya being the one hunting Orihime down, she won't stand a chance. Ichigo has the cure, but Byakuya has the power and the will to eliminate her. Who will make it first?


	9. What We Hide Away

With Orihime beginning her transformation into a hollow, Ichigo and the others look through the city at night in hopes of finding her. They have the antidote, but they're only going to get once chance and it has to be done before she completely transforms.

"Where is she?" Ichigo said.

"Don't worry, Ichigo. We'll find her." Rukia said. "As long as we follow her spiritual pressure, she can't hide from us." All of them kept going and saw part of the street trashed.

"Looks like she's going on a rampage." Chad said.

"I'm worried how she might have an effect on the innocent." Uryu said. "What if she isn't transparent and others can see her."

"I'm sure Rukia can just blast them with that memory changing stuff." Ichigo said.

"Hey! I have a limited supply!" Rukia said.

"Be quiet! We're here to find Orihime." Uryu said. All of them had a look around to try and see if there was a trace of her. Renji had a look around and felt something drip on his head.

"What the?" Renji said. He used his hand and it felt like drool. Renji looked up and saw a strange creature right above him. It jumped down at him, but Renji used Flash Step and escaped. "I think I found her." All of them regrouped to face the creature and it was Orihime. She looked worse than before as there was no clothes on her, every trace of her body was like a lizard, and grew small butterfly wings on her back. The only way they could tell that it was Orihime was she because she still had her hair and some facial features. She also had a transparent spot on her chest that showed her heart.

"Orihime, it's us. Don't you recognize us?" Ichigo said. She just snarled and attacked them with her claws, but they all stepped out of the way.

"It's no good, Ichigo." Chad said.

"Chad's right. She's too far gone to reach with words." Rukia said.

"But I can't bring myself to actually hurt her." Ichigo said.

"We don't need to." Uryu said. "All we have to do is keep her restraint long enough to use the antidote on her and hope for the best."

"There's nothing to hope for." Ichigo said. "It's going to work and that's all there is to it." Orihime attacked them again, but they're all doing their best to stay out of her reach.

"Rukia, you're better at kido than I am." Renji said. "You can even use Sode no Shirayuki to freeze her enough to keep her from moving."

"Good idea." Rukia said. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia unleashed her shikai of her zanpakuto and was about to defend herself against Orihime. However, Orihime jumped away. "What's she doing?" She got her answer when a stream of pink petals came flying by and attacking her. However, Orihime kept jumping away.

"I know that attack." Ichigo said. They all looked up to the sky and saw Byakuya was there.

"Brother?!" Rukia said.

"Captain!" Renji said.

"Byakuya's here? This can't be good." Chad said as Byakuya came down and faced Orihime.

"Brother, what are you doing here?" Rukia said.

"The Department of Research and Development detected a strange and unstable spiritual pressure and it looks like I just found it." Byakuya said. "I've been sent here to terminate it."

"You can't!" Ichigo said.

"I will. I have my orders." Byakuya said. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." He unleashed his shikai to attack Orihime, but Ichigo used Flash Step and stood in the way.

"No you won't!" Ichigo said as he swung his blade and unleashed a blast of spirit energy. It sliced right through his petals and just missed Byakuya.

"What do you think you're doing?" Byakuya asked.

"Back off. Leave her alone." Ichigo said. "I'm not going to let you or anyone hurt her."

"Ichigo, look out!" Chad said. Ichigo turned his head and saw Orihime was going to attack him. Rukia used her zanpakuto and formed a wall of ice and blocked her. Orihime used that to leave instead. Byakuya took a step forward, but Ichigo attacked him to keep from going anywhere, but Byakuya formed the blade of his sword and stopped him.

"Stay away from her." Ichigo said.

"Why?" Byakuya said. "That creature is on the verge of becoming a hollow. Why are you trying to prevent it's demise?"

"Brother, that creature is Orihime Inoue." Rukia said.

"I don't have time for this. You guys do what you can with Byakuya." Ichigo said. "I'm going after Orihime." Ichigo used Flash Step and went after her.

"You guys go with him. I'll deal with my brother." Rukia said.

"Are you sure?" Renji asked as he knew Rukia gets intimidated by her brother.

"I'll be fine. Just go." Rukia said. With no time for arguing, the rest of the guys followed Ichigo.

"Rukia, explain." Byakuya ordered.

"Byakuya, Orihime is indeed that creature." Rukia said. "She found this mysterious perfume that actually came from Hueco Mundo and she dumped it all over herself. She probably has no idea what she's even doing."

"But her spiritual pressure is unstable and could be troubling." Byakuya said.

"Brother, please let us do this." Rukia said. "I believe Ichigo is starting to see Orihime in a brand new light and he would rather die than let anyone harm her. Kisuke developed a cure for her. We can help her." She couldn't really tell if Byakuya was moved by this or not. "Kisuke Urahara said that we have until she completely transforms into a hollow to use the antidote. If we fail to change her back….she's all yours." Rukia hated to make an offer like that, but it did seem like there would be nothing else they could do if Orihime completely transforms. It wouldn't be so bad because at least if Orihime dies that way, she'll be sent to the Soul Society and Rukia can still visit her.

"Go." Byakuya said. Rukia couldn't tell if Byakuya wanted to save Orihime or not, but she needed to catch up with the others.

….

Orihime

Orihime continued to move through the city. Ichigo was able to catch up to Orihime and grabbed her by the leg. Orihime brought her leg back and kicked him off. Orihime was about to attack him, but Chad stepped in and used his fullbring abilities as a shield.

"Thanks, Chad." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, do you have the vaccination?" Uryu said.

"Yeah." Ichigo said.

"Get it ready. We're going to hold her down." Renji said. "Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" Renji formed a rope and shot it around Orihime to try and hold her down. However, Orihime was able to get out. "Of course." He complained. Orihime tackled him down and tried to take a bite out of him, but Renji was holding her back.

"Back off." Chad said and tackled her off. She was about to attack them, but Uryu shot out an arrow as a warning shot.

"Uryu, are you crazy?" Ichigo said.

"It's okay. I'm using as little power as I can." Uryu said. "I'm hoping to knock her out." Orihime leaped towards him, but Uryu jumped out of the way. Rukia showed up to try and help.

"What did I miss?" Rukia said.

"We can't keep her down." Ichigo said. Orihime started making some sort of cough noise and a white substance started to flow out of her mouth and eyes with it forming around her head.

"Oh no! The transformation is nearly complete." Rukia said.

"No!" Ichigo shouted.

"Bakudo #61: Rikujokoro." Six plates of light were formed and slammed around Orihime to keep her from moving. All of them looked to see Byakuya was helping them.

"Hurry, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said as this showing he wants her to live.

"Right." Ichigo said and charged right at her. "Come back to us, Orihime." He pulled out the vaccine and jammed it into Orihime. Orihime screamed as the white substance blew right off her. Byakuya undid his kido. Orihime acted like she was in pain as she leaned against a wall and slid against it. All of them gathered around as they saw she wasn't moving.

"Her heart!" Uryu said. All of them looked at her heart and saw it slowing down until it stopped.

"No. Kisuke said this would work." Ichigo said.

"He said it might have." Rukia said. All of them were saddened that she's gone. Ichigo reached out and grabbed her hand. He finally saw how special she is, but it's too late. However, a miracle was formed as Orihime's heart started beating again. Orihime's body was slowly starting to revert back to normal.

"Oh my!" Uryu said as he turned away and all of them remembered her clothes were torn up.

"Here." Byakuya said as he took off his captain haori and tossed it over Orihime to keep her covered. They succeeded in bringing her back.

….

The Next Night

Orihime was her old self again, but she wasn't upbeat at the moment. After she made amends with everyone she hurt, she's been sitting by the river. She felt terrible for everything that happened. She stared at her own reflection and was wondering who she was anymore.

"There you are." She looked behind her and saw Ichigo was there. "Tatsuki told me I would find you hear."

"Yeah. I feel terrible for all those horrible things I've done." Orihime said.

"It wasn't your fault." Ichigo said. "It was that perfume that was effecting you. Kisuke and Captain Unohana ran a diagnosis on your body and there's no trace of it left. You're cured now."

"Yeah, but that girl I became, I still feel her." Orihime said. "I've done so many shameful things."

"It's okay." Ichigo said as he took a seat next to her. Orihime took a deep shade of red as she thought about the things she did with Ichigo.

"Ichigo, what makes you want to be around me anymore?" Orihime said. "That other girl is still inside me, but I don't think I'll ever become her again. What do even if I do become her again?"

"It'll be okay." Ichigo said. "I still believed you were in there and that's the you I wanted. That's why I'm here now. Orihime, I know you're scared about becoming that girl, but don't be. I believe we all have this side of us that we hide away, that we don't want others to see. We try our best to conceal them, but there are times those sides of us come out and we can't help it. I think what matters is that we be true to who we are and we don't let those other sides of us define who we really are. That other night, I gave into you and a side of me came out that I wouldn't show anyone, but it did. I wouldn't have given in, but I did. The same with you. Maybe that girl is still inside you and you don't want to show people that side of you, but you're always and truly be the same girl I've always known."

"Really?" Orihime said.

"Yeah. I would also take this version of you over that other girl since this is the real you." Ichigo said and he brought out a side of him that he would want to show. Ichigo took a chance and kissed her. Orihime was surprised, but she leaned into it for now she knows Ichigo prefers the real her. We all have a side of us that wouldn't seem like us, a side that we might be a shamed of and would give in from time after time, but as long as don't let them define us, our real selves will always be better.


End file.
